Descriptions of two new Mole Rats

Vol. XVi, pp. 161-164

November

30, 1903

PROCEEDINGS

OF THK

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO NEW MOLE RATS.

BY GERRIT

^S.

MILLER,

^Jr,

[By permission^ofthe SecretaryoftheSmithsonianInstitution.]

Among

^the

^{Old World}

^{rodents in the}

^United

^States

^National Museum

are

two forms

of

Spalax, which

I

am unable

to iden- tify

with any

^of the species recently characterized

by Nehring and

Satunin.

One

is

from northern Dobrudscha,

^{the other}

from Beyrout,

Syria,

They may be described

as follows:

Spalax dolbrogeae,^sp.

now

Type.

—

Adult

male

(skin

and

skull), No. _122,109, United States Na- tional

Museum.

Collected at Malcociu, Dobrudscha,

Rumania, March

20, 1903. Received from

Wilhelm

Schliiter ofHalle, a.S.,

Germany.

Characters.

— A medium

sized speciesnearly as largeasSpalax ^micro- phthalmus,

which

^it resemblesintheformof themolar _teeth,but from

which

itdiffersconspicuously^inthe

much

_{largerparietal}bones.

Color.

—

_Back,sides,andposterior half^of

head

ochraceous-buff,_slight^1\

palerthanthatof

Ridgway,

^{the fur} everywhereslate-graybeneathsur- face. Underparts

and

legs slate-gray, thecolor of sidesextending ^asa distinct

wash

across middle of body. Face, cheeks, and region aboui

mouth

_silvery drab-gray, the

two

linesof bristle-like hairs extending back from muzzle whitishinrather

marked

contrast.

Skull.

—

_{In general} form the skull rather closely resembles that ol

Spalaxmicropkthalm.u-g asfiguredby Nehring, but ^thelambdoid ridge^is almost_straight,

and

each _parietalboneisnearly^asbroadas_long,

and

in size fully equal ^to the two _together in the skull of the larger animal.

41-Paoc. Bioc. Soc. Wash. Von. XVI, ^1W3. (I6i>

162

Miller— Descriptions of Two New Mole Rats.

Anteriorly the

two

bones form a single point,

and

the latero-antenor borderiscontinued

backward

almosttolambdoid crest, sothat the out- lineof the boneisvery nearly ^a right triangle. Sagittal ^crestwell de- veloped. Anteriormarginof frontal straight.

Teeth.

— _The

teeth agreewiththoseofSpalaxmicrophthalmus,^asdescrib- ed by Nehring* except thateachofthefirst

and

second upper molars has an enamel island in the anterior _loop,

making

the patternan exactre- versal ofthatinthefirstand second lower molarsofSpalaxhungaricus.j Inallofthe teeth the pattern ^isessentially alike,

and

consistsofa_single narrow_reentrantfoldoneachside.

The

inner reentrant isplaced^alittle in advance of the _outer, and iscurved _forward,while theoutercurves back. In the maxillary teeth the ^folds are all open,but in the lower jaw ^{thoseofthe innersideare closed.}

The

anterior faces of theincisors both above and below are _finely roughened by

minute

longitudinal wrinkles, but there arenodistinctgrooves.

Mens

uremenis.—

Head and

_body, 230; hindfoot 29 _{(25); skull,}greatest length,^52; basal length, ^{45; basilar} length, 42: occipito-nasal length (from inion), 41; palatal length,26; diastema, 19; lengthof nasals, 19;

breadthof bothnasals together anteriorly,7; breathof bothnasals to- gether posteriorly, 2.6; greatest breadth of rostrum, 11.4; zygomatic breadth, 38; mastoid _breadth,26; least interorbital breadth, 6; palatal breadth between middlemolars,2; depth^atmiddleof palate, 18.4; least depth ^ofrostrum behindincisors, 7; mandible from_condyle, 31; mandi-

ble, from root of incisor, 32; depth^of mandible through coronoid pro- cess, 18.8; upper molars, alveoli, 7.6; upper molars, crowns, 6.6; width of second upper molar (crown), ^2.8; lower molars, alveoli, 7; lower molars, crowns,^6.6; width of upper ^{incisor at} alveolus, 3; width of lower incisor at alveolus,^3.4.

Specimens examined.

—

_{One, the type.}

Remarks.

—

Thisisprobably^the

same

animal asthe

Rumanian

_Spalax hungaricus recorded by^{Matschie, in 1901.}J It isreadilydistinguishable from the

Hungarian

species, however, by ^its

much

_larger size and

by

the presence of an inner reentrant

enamel

fold in the _posteriormolar bothabove and below. Spalaxdolbragew^is apparently

more

closely re- lated toS. microphthalmia.

Spalax

berytensis,sp.nov.

Type.—

Adult female (skin and skull), No. _$finb.

tional

Museum.

CollectedatBeyrout, Syria, April, 1878, by

W.

T.

Van

Dyck,

*Sitz.-Ber. Gesellsch. naturforsch. Freundezu Berlin, 1S97, p. 165.

fInthe posterior loop of the ^left middle lower molar there isavery minuteenamel island

whose

_presence

may

^beabnormal.

{Sitz.-Ber. Gesellsch. naturforsch.

Freunde

zu Berlin, 1901, p. 237.

Prundu,

Rumania.

Miller

—

Descriptions

of

^Tico

New Mole Hats.

163 Characters.

— _A medium

sized species,notas large as SpalaxdoJhrogece.

Face of incisors without distinct grooves.

Enamel

_patternessentially as in Spalaxkirgisorum; posteriorupper molar with noreentrantenamel foldon inner side, posterior lower molar withadeep^foldon eachside.

3kullbroad androbust, without_{specialelongation}ofrostrum.

Color.

—

In colorthe typeresemblesthatof Spalaxdolbrogeas so closely as to require no _special description. In two half

grown young

^the mouse-gray^{of the}muzzleisextended backovermostof head, whilein anold,

much

abradedmalethelight tips of the hairs areso

much worn away

^thatthe whole animalisadirty

plumbeous

^brown.

Skull.

— _The

skull of anoldmale with

much worn

teeth rather_closely resemblesthatofSpalaxdolbrogeai,but isnot_{as large.}

The more

notice- abledetails offormin

which

itdiffersfrom the

Dobrudschan

animalare as follows:

The

rostrumisnot_distinctlyswollenatrootsof incisors; the anteriorzygomatic ^{rootsHareless}abruptly: the posteriormargin^{of ant-} orbital foramen ^is extended further backward, so that the foramen appears larger

when

skull is viewed from above; the anterior outline of the frontals is conspicuously angular-emarginate^{; the} parietal ^is rhomboid, itslengthunder lambdoidcrestnearlydoublethatofanterior margin; ^the basioccipital ^is narrower in proportion ^{to its} length; the tubularportion of the audital bulla^isbetter developed. In the type the

same

characters are apparent, except ^{that the} interparietal ^is wider along anterior suture.

Teeth.

— Enamel

_patternof molarssimilartothatof Spalaxkirgisorum asfiguredanddescribedby Nehring,* but withangles^lesssharp-pointed.

First upper molar^{with well}developed reentrantfold on innerside

and

two rather deeper ^folds on the outer side, the inner

and

the anterior outer almost _meeting. Second upper molar with ^a deep^fold on each sideanda largeenamel islandopposite point^ofinnerfold. Third upper molarentireon innerside, cut on outer side by tworeentrant folds, of

which

the anterior isminute and inconspicious, the posteriordeep and provided with ^a short posteriorand long anterior curved _off-shoot, the

two

off-shoots together forming ^{a crescent} parallel withinner edge ^of tooth.

Each

lowermolar hasa_singledeep^{reentrantfold} onouterside.

The

first has

two

foldson inner side,the outer abruptlybent _forward, the posterior slightlycurved backward.

The

second has one reentrant angleon innerside.

The

third is provided with ^adeep^anterior

and

a minute _posterior fold.

A

_large enamel island lies in posterior loop^of second lower molar. Anterior faces of incisors finely roughened

by

minute, irregular, longitudinal ^folds.

They ^show

^{no trace} of definite grooves,butthe foldstendtoformbarely perceptible longitudinalridges, threeorfourinnumber.

Measurements.

—

_External

measurements

oftype (fromskin):

Head and

body, ^130; hind_foot, 24_(21). External

measurements

of old male from typelocality:

Head and

_body, 190; hindfoot, 28_(24).

*Sitz.-Ber. Gesellsch. naturforsch.

Freunde

zu _{Berlin, 1897, p.} 177, fig.4 _(p. 175).

164 Miller

—

Descriptions

of Two New Mole Hats.

Cranial

measurements

oftype: Greatest length,

—

_(49*): basal length.

—

_(44.4): basilar length.

—

(40.4); occi_pito-nasal length (from inion).

30.4 _(39); palatal length, 22(29.4): diastema, ¹² (17); length of^{nasals, 15} (20); breadth of both nasals together anteriorly, 5.2 _(6.8); breadth of both nasals together posteriorly, 1.8 (2.8); greatest breadthof rostrum.

7.4 (10): zygomatic breadth, 27.2(35); mastoid breadth, 22 (26); least interorbital breadth, ⁷(6.4): palatal breadthbetween middlemolars, l.S (2.4): depth^at middleof palate, 18.4(18.8); leastdepth^of rostrum be- hind _{incisors,5(7);} mandible from condyle, 24.8(81); mandible from root of incisor. 24.6(30); depth^of mandible through ^coronoid process.

12.8 (17.6); upper molars, alveoli, 7.8 _(8); upper molars, crowns, 8 _(7):

widthofsecond upper molar(crown),^2.2(2.8); lower molars,alveoli. 7.6 (7); lowermolars,crowns,6.4_(7); widthofupper ^{incisor at} alveolus, ^l.S (2.6); widthoflowerincisor at alveolus, 1.8 (2.6).

Specimens^examined.

—

_{Four, allfrom the}vicinity ofBeyrout.

Remarks.

—

In dental characters this species appears ^to be

much

like Spalaxkirgisorum, an animal from

which

itdiffersvery conspicuouslyⁱⁿ the large sizeand robust formof theskull.

From

its near geographic

allies, Spalax ehrenbergi and Spalax intermedinsit isalsoreadily ^distin- guishable; from the former by^the absenceof a reentrant fold on the innersideofthe third upper molar

and

bythe presence^ofonlyone fold oninnersideofmiddle lowertooth; from thelatterbythe longerparie- tals (7

mm.

insteadof 5

mm.

_{alongsagittal}crest), and by^theabsenceof distinctgrooveson the faceoftheincisor teeth.

*

Measurements

inparenthesis are those ofanadultmale

(much

^older than _{the type)}from the

same

_{locality (No. ff£$f).}